Novgorod Kremlin, Cathedral of St. Sophie (Veliky Novgorod)
Chronicles of the 16th and 17th centuries mention a building that was constructed in 989, soon after the Christianization. The thirteen-dome church was made completely of oak and dedicated to St. Sophia. The church stood on the Volkhov River at the end of Yepiskopskaya Street, where the epic hero Sadko built the Church of SS. Boris and Gleb in 1167. The place of the church, which was demolished in the second half of the 18th century, is known for sure. Excavations, conducted by Novgorod Museum in 1940, revealed lower walls of this grand church. It was situated in the southern part of the Kremlin, to the south of the Boyarskiye Vodyaniye Vorota (the Boyar Water Gate). Its southern wall went along the northern wall of a small church dedicated to Saint Andrew Stratelates, which has survived to our days.
In 1044, the first stone walls of Novgorod Kremlin were erected. By then, it occupied only two thirds of its current area. St. Sophia's Church, which burned out in 1045, was outside the new walls. Immediately after the 1045 fire, Prince of Novgorod Vladimir, son of Yaroslav the Wise, founded a stone church (in 1046, according to V. Yanin; Янин В. Л. "Очерки комплексного источниковедения", M., 1977, p. 124). The construction was completed in 1050, quite soon, if we take into account that at least 10,000 cubic meters of stone and brick were used.
The exact date of the consecration of the church is not known. The Sofia First Chronicle dated this to 1050, while the Novgorod Third Chronicle to 1052. It is also said in the Novgorod Third Chronicle that the cathedral was painted by Constantinople artists immediately after being constructed.
Vera Brusova supposed that St. Sophia's Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod was built as a monument to commemorate the victory of Prince Vladimir over Byzantine Empire in 1044.
The chronicles tell about a raid of the Russians led by Prince Vladimir against Constantinople in 1043. (It is believed that Constantinople violated some legal privileges of the Russians and killed some Russian noble man). According to both Russian and Greek sources, the Rus'-Byzantine War of 1043 was undoubtedly lost by the Russians. By Constantinople walls, the army was met by "fire of the Greeks" and eventually crushed. Captured warriors were blinded.
The 1044 campaign is not mentioned in the chronicles. Vera Brusova referred to a depression in Rus' after the war as a proof of this campaign. Emperor Monomakh married his daughter to Vsevolod, the Yaroslav's fourth son. According to the rules of diplomatic relations at the time, dynastic marriages in time of peace meant equality or mutual interest of the parties. The campaign was only told about in the 16th-century work of literature "The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir", but attributed to Vladimir Monomakh. The Tale vividly describes the Monomakh's Byzantine Empire Campaign and its (Byzantine) crushing defeat. Greek tsar Constantine Monomakh sent his ambassadors to Vladimir as if he wanted to make durable peace. The ambassadors brought the Monomakh's royal crown and other valuable presents to Prince of Kiev. It is well known, that Vladimir Monomakh did not have any campaigns against the Byzantine Empire and could not receive any regalia from the Emperor, since he lived later than his maternal grandfather. Vera Brusova noted that during the Campaign, the Korsun Gate and many icons might be taken out. Today, some of the icons are ascribed to Novgorod icon-painting school.
Vladimir's activity seems to be very important. He was an indisputable successor to the Prince throne after his aged father, Yaroslav the Wise. In 1439, Vladimir was canonized by Bishop Euthymius II. Unfortunately, he died on 4 October 1052, two years earlier than his father.
The Cathedral of St. Sophia has five naves, three apses, and ten columns. Wide two-storeyed galleries adjoin it from three sides except the eastern one. A stair tower is to the south of the western gallery's entrance. The columns are cross-like with flat pilaster strips in contrast to them in all inner and outer walls. Spacious choir stalls occupy the western section of the central nave, two sections of the middle naves and side naves completely. In the central nave and transept, choir stalls open up into an under-dome space with two arches, which are supported by intermediate columns. The intermediate columns of the second tier are squared up, while the pillars, which support vaults above the south-west and north-west areas of the choir loft, are faceted. All supporting vaults of the loft are cylindrical and aligned along the north-south axis. Openings of the first tier galleries in the middle of the western and southern facades are open, while the others, including those of the second tier galleries, are close. The choir loft is accessed from the south-western part of the Cathedral, through the stair tower, to the western gallery of the second tier, and then inside the temple. Stone staircase twists around a central pillar several times. The stairs are very wide and often have platforms between them. Passing by the entrance to the choir loft, the stairs continue to the top of the tower and to the roof.
Eastern divisions of the galleries' first tier have side chapels with big independent semicircular apses. A southern side chapel is dedicated to the Nativity, while a northern one to St. John the Evangelist. Western walls of the side chapels are misaligned to the general layout of the pillars. They are moved westward the same as the above walls of the second tier, which separate closed rooms in the eastern ends of the galleries. The closed rooms also form a south-western angular division in both tiers. The western division of the northern gallery in the first tier is another side chapel dedicated to the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. It has a very flat arched apse to the west of the entrance. Middle section of the southern gallery is called Martirievskaya Porch, while the one of the western galleries is Korsunskaya Porch. The side chapel of SS. Joachim and Anna was arranged in the eastern division of the southern nave.
Central part of the Cathedral is covered with decussate cylindrical vaults. Five domes rise above their crosslines and in diagonal divisions. One more dome crowns the tower.
The last northern and southern naves, as well as the western transverse one, are bridged with alternate cylindrical and triangle vaults, which are aligned along the north-south axis in the northern and southern naves. In the western transverse nave, only the last southern vault is oriented this way. The galleries' first tier (except for the northern one) is covered with cylindrical vaults supported by flying buttresses. Vaults of the second tier of the southern gallery are semi-cylindrical, while they are cylindrical in the western gallery.
The Cathedral has a two stage roofing different for different vaults. Some of the vaults are rounded — zakomaras, while the others have two slopes — gables. A lead dove rests on a gilded cross of the central gold-plated dome. Once, the dove symbolized the Holy Spirit. Later people started to believe that as soon as the dove flew down the cross, the bell would toll for Novgorod. Cupolas look like Old Russian helmets.
Facade decorations are very modest and are limited to a cogged belt in zakomaras' archivots and zones of ornamental brickwork. All dome drums are completed with a belt decorated with cogs and without cornices. The central apse is adorned with slim semi-columns, which do not come down to the ground. The entrances to the Cathedral as well as big windows above the entrances were framed as late as the 16th and 17th centuries.
Originally, floor was 130 cm lower; there were no big windows above the entrances, while the other windows were narrower. Until the end of the 14th century, there were no high iconostases. One could get a view of the high altar from the choir loft. It was a great place to observe divine services.
Due to massive columns and narrow intercolumn vaults, the inner space of St. Sophia's Cathedral seems a bit small and disharmonious to the severe simplicity of the building's exterior. However, if you look closely, your first impression will turn false. It appears that the inside, as well as the outside, has no unnecessary details that are not justified by the design. The only decorative element of the entire inner decoration is column plates arranged over spaces in three rows. Choir arches, which seem very light from below, are not decorative but support the vaults of the second tier.
The architecture of the Cathedral looks monolithic and produces a feeling of elastic volumes and rising of the main quadrangle, the drum and the domes. The building is seen as a monument, which became peculiar for further development of Russian architecture.
The main volume of the Cathedral, excluding galleries, is 27 m (88.5 ft) long and 24.8 m (81 ft) wide. While with galleries it is 34.5 m (113 ft) long, 39.3 m (129 ft) wide, and has 120 azimuth angle. The underdome square sides are 6.19 m (20.3 ft) to 6.28 m (20.5 ft). The walls are 1.2 m (4 ft) thick. The height from the ancient floor to the dove on the cross of the middle dome is 38 m (124.5 ft). The Cathedral's walls are made of stone. Various limestones and cobblestone were used too. Belts — several rows of bricks laid in a hidden row technique — can be seen here and there.
St. Sophia's Cathedral is constructed of bluish, greyish, greenish, yellowish, and brownish Volkhov limestone. The stones were held together with mortar made with crushed brick. The stones were not finished except for the sides that cropped out. The stone sides were trimmed to the wall line vertical. Since the stones were different in colour, researches suggested an idea, that the original Cathedral was not covered with mortar on the outside but had bare colourful stones. These lime and cobble stones with flat pink and brownish mortar between them made the walls exclusively vivid, while the Cathedral was notable for its simple and concise forms. The iridescent transparent colouring of the stones with flat mortar around each of them, including both big and small, even small as a nut, makes an impression of precious stones. However, it refers to rectilinear walls only.
The arches and vaults have more bricks laid in the same hidden row technique. Bricks were used for all arches and straight arches above the windows and door openings, as well as for vaults. The dome vaults are made of bricks only. Stones were used for inner vaults.
The inner surface of the brickwork is clamped with smaller stones and bricks with large volume of mortar. Brickwork is not similar in different parts of the building. There are several areas of decorative figured brickwork. Most of the bricks are 3.7–4.5x24–26x38–40 cm (1.5–1.8 x 9.5–10.2 x 15–15.7 in) in size. However, other sizes are also met — 4х18х21 cm (1.5x7x8 in), 4х24х31 cm (1.5x9.5x12 in), 4х31х40 cm (1.5x12x15.7 in), 4х26х43 cm (1.5x10x17 in), as well as circle bricks.
The walls are connected by several tiers of oak binds. Locally produced clay pots were also widely used here and there. The Cathedral's foundation is strip and made of mortared boulders. In the western part of the building, the boulders are 1.6–1.8 m (0.6–0.7 ft) deep, while in the eastern part, their depth is up to 2.5 m (8 ft). There are wooden substructures under the foundation. Originally, the cement floor of the Cathedral was over 2 meters (6.5 feet) lower than it is today. Remains of two more stone floors, dated back to the 11th and 12th centuries, were found above. In the central apse, remains of mosaic floor, which were apparently made in the 12th century, were discovered. These were small pieces of mosaic set stuck in cement and fragments of grey limestone slabs with mosaic. Several inlaid stone slabs have survived in the covering of the lower apse's walls, around the High Place. Remains of a communion table, columns of a wooden canopy, and bases of an altar cross were found in the central apse. Initially, the High Place had two levels and frescoes. Later, it was remade into three levels and faced with mosaic. Traces of a sanctuary screen were also met in the Cathedral. In the Nativity side chapel, the original floor was made of slip glaze plates, while the later one was tiled. Rather few fresco paintings have survived in the Cathedral. They reflect different decoration stages of the building: mid-11th century, 1108, 1144, and 1195–1196.
St. Sophia's Cathedral's design is peculiar for quarter-circular arches (flying buttresses) in the southern porch (Martirievskaya Porch), which are not met in any other Russian monuments of the 11th century. They were made in the northern porch too, but disappeared during the late-13th-century reconstruction of the northern wall. Flying buttresses of the Cathedral's external gallery are well known in Roman architecture.
St. Sophia's belfry is to the east of the Cathedral. In 1439, it was built instead of a crashed down bell tower.
First, it had three spans. In the 16th century, a belfry was built on and the number of spans was increased. As a result, the belfry became more monumental.
In the 17th century, a porch and a little house were attached from the south; decoration elements were added. A barrel-like roof and a dome appeared in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In autumn 2005, restoration of the Cathedral's domes began, since the gold backing condition of the main dome was appraised by specialists as wrecking. The specialists also decided to change the cross of the main dome, which could not be reconstructed, and refresh gilding of smaller crosses. Reconstruction works were made by experts of the SEZAR Northwest Association of Restorers. Everything was financed by means of the Russian Culture Federal Target Program.
Originally, the Cathedral's domes were covered with lead sheets, while its central copper dome was gilded. The domes were helmet but not onion-shaped.
According to information of Novgorod State Museum-Reserve, the gold backing of the Cathedral's dome should be refreshed every 30 years at least. In the 20th century, the dome was gilded thrice: before the 1917 Russian Revolution, after the Great Patriotic War (part of World War II), and in the early 1980s.
After the gilding was removed and the coating was cleaned, the dome was covered with a special solution of red lead and varnish. Then the dome was coated with a thin layer of gold leaf. Small leaves of gold of 10x15 cm (4.6 in) were fixed all over the drum using a special technology.
Small crosses were reconstructed at the same time. A new cross for the main dome was made by a famous Novgorod smith Viktor Kornilov, who had already forged a copy of St. Sophia's cross to exchange it for the original one and return it from Spain to Veliky Novgorod in 2004. The cross was adorned by a bronze silver-plated dove that has traditionally crowned the main cross of the Cathedral for many centuries.
The gold-plated cross was mounted on 24 January 2007.